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News. June 16, 2003.
Eight Cuban migrants taken into custody
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. 15 (AP)- Eight Cubans were spotted on the beach Sunday and
were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents, officials said.
Officers recovered a 19-foot boat and believe the migrants may have been
smuggled to shore, although that was still under investigation, Border Patrol
spokesman Keith Roberts said.
Witnesses saw the seven men and one woman and called police, who in turn
contacted Border Patrol officers, Roberts said.
The migrants were being held for questioning in Pembroke Pines, officials
said. Border Patrol officers were interviewing witnesses, Roberts said.
Under U.S. policy, Cuban migrants who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed
to stay, but those intercepted at sea are usually returned. After a year, Cubans
can apply for permanent residency.
Cuba Takes Control of Spanish Center
HAVANA, 14 (AP) - Fidel Castro's communist government took its first major
step in its anti-Europe campaign Saturday, taking control of the Spanish
Embassy's cultural center — a showcase of Iberian tradition Havana says was
used to nurture the opposition.
The Foreign Ministry announcement came two days after Castro led hundreds of
thousands of people on marches outside the Spanish and Italian embassies in the
capital to protest European alignment with U.S. policies supporting
pro-democracy dissidents.
Havana was responding to the 15-member European Union's announcement last
week that it would review its relations with the island after a crackdown on the
opposition and the firing-squad executions of three men who tried to hijack a
ferry to South Florida.
A government statement Saturday said Cuba was canceling its agreement with
the Spanish Embassy, first signed in 1995 and renewed in September, to operate
the cultural center in a renovated historic building facing the ocean in the
capital's Old Havana district.
Cuban authorities told Spanish officials of the decision Friday, giving them
90 days to relinquish control of the two-story building, owned by the Cuban
government.
"The accord signed by both countries said that the center would be
created to promote the best values of Spanish culture based on respect for
sovereignty, territorial integrity and nonintervention in Cuba's internal
affairs," the Foreign Ministry said.
"Far from promoting Spanish culture in our country — the reason it
was created — it has maintained a program of activities unrelated to its
original function, in open challenge of Cuban laws and institutions," the
statement added.
"Under Cuban administration, the center will be completely dedicated to
promote the best values of the Spanish culture in our country," it said.
The center was operating normally Saturday morning, but there were no
officials present authorized to comment on Cuba's announcement. The Spanish
Embassy nearby was closed for the weekend and diplomats were unavailable. In
Madrid, the Spanish government also said it had no comment.
Inside the center, an exhibit of Iberian design was on display, with objects
including plates, jewelry and lamps. In one workshop, Spanish graphics artist
Isidro Ferrer was teaching a class to his Cuban counterparts.
Ferrer, who was flying back to Madrid later Saturday, said it was
unfortunate the center had become the focus of a political battle. "Cultural
should not be at the service of politics," Ferrer said.
Foreign Ministry did not provide details about how the center allegedly was
being used to violate Cuba's internal affairs. But on Wednesday, Cuban Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque accused the Spanish government" of funding
opposition groups.
The center was inaugurated amid much fanfare in 1997 in the century-old
building known as the Palacio de las Cariatides on the eastern end of the
Malecon coastal highway.
It houses a large salon for receptions, along with a library of Spanish
books and an archive of phonograph records. Exhibits, workshops, lectures and
other cultural events are regularly held there.
Over the years, the center was visited by many well-known Spanish cultural
figures, including filmmaker Pedro Almodovar and writer Manuel Vazquez
Montablan, along with Cuban artists such as writer Miguel Barnet and composer
Leo Brouwer.
Cuba Continues European Union Bashing
HAVANA, 13 (AP) - After leading a march of hundreds of thousands of people
outside the Spanish Embassy, Fidel Castro (news - web sites) continued his
criticisms of the European Union in a televised speech that stretched into the
early hours of Friday.
Speaking to an international cultural conference Thursday evening, Castro
said the 15-nation European bloc should stop being "tugged along by the
United States" when it comes to Cuba.
Castro's willingness to alienate Cuba's most important source of trade and
tourism alarmed some of the island's dissidents, who warned that the Caribbean
nation is growing more isolated than ever from the international community.
"This is an unacceptable situation that greatly reduces the
possibilities of communication and insertion of our country into the
international arena," the opposition group Arco Progresista said in a
statement news organizations.
"It is important to reverse this course of action that can provoke a
spiral of undesirable events," the dissident group added.
The European Union on Friday repeated its demand for democratic reforms in
Cuba.
In Brussels, Belgium, spokesman Diego de Ojeda said the EU wants closer
economic and political relations with the communist government but only if Cuba
becomes more democratic.
During his Thursday evening address, Castro said President Bush (news - web
sites) is ignorant about Europe and was using EU members for his political
agenda.
"He just realized that Europe exists, and that it exists to obey,"
said Castro. "He does not understand any other concept of Europe."
Earlier in the day, Castro led hundreds of thousands of people in a march
outside the Spanish Embassy to protest European support of U.S. policies aimed
at nurturing pro-democracy activism in Cuba. His brother and designated
successor, Defense Minister Gen. Raul Castro, led a similar march outside the
Italian mission.
A day after the marches, it was business as usual at both embassies.
More than 100 Cubans waited outside Spain's mission in Old Havana for visas
to visit or emigrate to the European country with the closest historical ties to
the Caribbean country.
Europe's commercial ties to Cuba are also important, with about 80 percent
of the island's imports and half the tourists coming the 15-member European
Union.
In Rome, Italy's Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned the Cuban ambassador
to express indignation over Castro's personal criticism of Premier Silvio
Berlusconi and the rally outside the Italian Embassy.
A senior Italian Foreign Ministry official expressed to Cuban Ambassador
Maria de los Angeles Florez Prida "the deep indignation caused by offensive
expressions used by President Fidel Castro regarding the Italian premier,"
said a ministry statement.
During an impromptu talk on state television Wednesday night, Castro
mockingly referred several times to the Italian premier as "Burlesconi,"
essentially likening him to clown.
On signs carried by marchers Thursday, the Italian leader was portrayed as a
marionette and compared to fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
In Madrid, the Spanish government declined to comment further on the
protests, during which Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was mocked as a "little
Fuhrer." Instead, Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy expressed his
government's "solidarity and closeness with the Cuban people, with whom we
feel united."
Cuba's protests come a week after the EU announced it was reviewing its
policies toward Cuba following the sentencing of 75 dissidents to long prison
terms and the firing-squad executions of three men who hijacked a ferry.
The European Union said in last week's statement it was "deeply
concerned about the continuing flagrant violation of human rights and of
fundamental freedoms of members of the Cuban opposition and of independent
journalists."
EU members unanimously agreed to reduce high-level governmental visits and
participation in cultural events on the island.
The European nations also agreed to invite dissidents to national holiday
celebrations at their embassies in Havana as a sign of support for the island's
internal opposition. | 
